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Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24005694-15084,00.html
Peace Will Elude Us Until Arab World Accepts Reality of Israel
[The Australian ] Bren Carlill - The reason Israeli-Palestinian peace seems so elusive is one of simple rejectionism. Much of the Palestinian and wider Arab elite still fundamentally reject Israel's right to exist. Given that Israel has existed for 60 years, this sounds bizarre. But it explains why books, Palestinian television programs and even summer camps for children promote ideas of Israel's supposedly inevitable destruction. Yes, the Arab League issued an Arab-Israel peace plan. But its wording made clear Israel was required to effectively dissolve itself as a country by absorbing all Palestinian refugees, plus their descendants. Only then would Arab countries decide whether to enter negotiations with Israel. Absorbing four million non-Jews would remove the Jewish nature of the Jewish state - a non-starter for Israel. Anyone who thinks removing Israeli settlements will improve living standards or human rights in the Arab Middle East is dreaming. In 2005, Israel removed its settlements from Gaza, in a voluntary action designed to prompt peaceful Palestinian reciprocation. The result wasn't peaceful reciprocity. The number of rockets fired from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns dramatically increased. Palestinian media portrayed the Israeli withdrawal as a military defeat, urging Palestinian fighters to double their efforts in order to defeat the Zionists once and for all. The writer is an analyst at the Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.